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TRP: Jonn and Diva (Larvae Deal)
Setting Outside Diva the Deals Queen's shop, night. Jonn checks the note in his hand and looks back up, squinting. Looks shady. The mysterious note kinda implied that, anyway. He finishes off the bottle in his other hand and hocks it at a nearby wall, shattering it. What the hell. He walks up to Diva's door and steps inside. Coyote: The shop is cluttered and chaotic. It's larger on the inside than the outside-- velvet drapes hanging from the windows, odd knickknacks thrown around the shop. Through a beaded curtain, a man steps out. His skin is extremely fair, almost white, as though he has not been out in the sun in ages. He is nicely dressed the same way Diva typically is--draped with jewelry that shifts as he walks. His eyes are black and wet all the way around. He flashes a wide smile at Jonn. "Welcome! You must be Jonn." Izzy: Jonn immediately hesitates, put off by the inherent vague weirdness. He keeps a hand on the doorknob, but doesn't back out. "Yeah. You're ... Diva the Deals Queen?" Coyote: "Yes, actually." He snatches for Jonn's hand, but doesn't manage to catch it before Jonn yanks it back. Some of the fingers are mismatched. "Have your friends told you about me?" In a honeyed, cloying voice. When he moves, it's like he's being by puppet strings. Izzy: Jonn looks at his hand, then back to his face with an expression that says, Are you serious? This was a mistake. He has made a mistake. His back is against the door. "No," he says slowly. "I got a letter. Which friends?" Coyote: "Oh, darling. Don't worry. No harm will come of you while you're in my shop. That's a promise." The man pulls back, showing his hands. He sits down and folds his legs. He does not attempt to make Jonn come into the store. "I want to make you an offer," he says. Izzy: "Okay." Jonn continues to not listen to his basic survival instinct, but not come any closer, either. Coyote: "You can say no at any time," the man says. "I'd just like to extend an offer. I need someone to do something for me, and I'm having trouble finding anymore." It's hard to tell quite where he's looking. His eyes have no pupils, iris, or sclera. But it looks like they're fixed on Jonn. "I like to make deals with people. I have little tricks and abilities, things I gift people with. Magical items, sometimes, but sometimes other things too. I see you with one foot out the door, boy. You know this is dangerous and you're ready to bolt. That's fine. I'm not trying to hurt you." He wets his lips like he's hungry. "I can help you kill that sorcerer you don't like." Then pauses and says, "Well. Not kill." Izzy: Jonn narrows his eyes. He doesn't like that this guy knows anything about him, but he does like the sound of that. He relaxes a little. "Why not kill? No takebacks." Coyote: "I think we can do something worse," Diva says. Izzy: He smiles despite himself. "Yeah, all right." Jonn takes a couple steps into the room, appraising it before looking back to Diva and crossing his arms. "What kind of deal?" Coyote: Diva looks delighted this might be working. "Well-- I may as well be honest, darling, you're a sharp...." He pauses here, eyeing Jonn like he's not sure what word to use. Human? It's hard to pick out the species, sometimes. "You're a sharp person," he says. "My deals have a tendency to backfire on people. I want something, and I'm trying to get it, but I don't have enough power yet. I'm not... big enough.... yet. But it's not going to hurt you. Just the sorcerer, this time." He goes deeper into his shop and stops at the beaded curtain. He motions Jonn to follow him into the next room. Izzy: Jonn gives him an amused look. Oh, he thinks flattery's going to get him somewhere? Adorable. He shifts his weight to one hip. "Yeah, buddy, my dad taught me not to go to second locations with strangers. I'm good out here, thanks." Coyote: Diva waves dismissively. He disappears into the next room, then comes back out a few moments late with a small lined box. It's locked heavily. He pops it open and presents it. Inside are two tiny vials, each the size of Jonn's thumb. They are clear, each with a tight stopper. Each contains a tiny, writhing, oily black piece of..... Something. Izzy: Jonn looks at them uneasily. "What are they?" Coyote: "Seeds of Gluttony." Izzy: He looks back up at Diva. "Which is ...?" Coyote: Diva has a wide, white smile. "It'll help me get something I want. Two somethings, actually." He closes the box and sets it aside. "All you have to do is take these vials. Keep them as long as I say. And then, when the time is right, you will give them to the right person." Izzy: Jonn thinks for a moment. "'Kay. Who?" Coyote: "I'll whisper the name in your ear when the time comes," Diva says. Izzy: "Creepy," he says bluntly. "What'll the seed things do to them?" Coyote: His fingers tap on the counter. "Hm, I'm not sure how to answer that. Well. It will cause someone a lot of harm." Izzy: "Someone. The person I'm giving them to, or someone else?" He shifts again and glances at the box. "Look, I'm not trying to make life miserable for some random person, I just want fucking Mishka to suffer. Can I give them to him?" Coyote: "Oh, you can," Diva said. "I just don't think you can get close enough. But that would be ideal, sure." Izzy: "Oh." He's surprised. "Hm. Yeah, you're probably right about that. I could give them to ..." He tries to think of someone who could get close to Mishka. Hansel did say he'd help him. "Well, I might know someone who could get close enough. It wouldn't hurt him, right? A middleman?" Coyote: "Oh, no, absolutely not," Diva said. "Look, I'm trying to be circumspect, because it's a really exciting thing and I think I want you to be delightfully surprised. I haven't decided if I'm going to have you give it directly to the sorcerer or to.... a middleman. Either would work. But it wouldn't hurt a middleman, no. That's against the rules." Izzy: "Oh, rules. Good. Tell me the rules, then." Coyote: He laughs. "Oh, whatever rules we decide. I was assuming that was one of them, right? You don't want this to hurt darling Hansel." Izzy: Jonn takes half a step back. It's bad enough this guy knows shit about him, but just guessing that he was thinking about Hansel sets him on edge again. "Yeah." He thinks to make a threat -- if you hurt my dad I'll fucking kill you -- but this probably isn't the type of situation threats get you out of. He chews on his lip for a second. "Tell me more about what you're gonna do to Mishka. If I accept this." Coyote: "Oh, I just can't say," Diva says. "I simply can't. It's too good. Well, I'll give you a hint! It's his worst fear and it's a fate worse than death. Good enough?" Izzy: Jonn scowls. "No. I don't want a vague promise, I want to know what you're capable of. Maybe I can come up with something better." Coyote: Diva bends to whisper in Jonn's ear. "You see this body? This was a person once." He grabs Jonn's arm, and Jonn can feel the pulse in the hand. The body Diva is inhabiting is alive. "It's still alive inside," Diva says. "Thinking. Seeing you, listening to this conversation. Trapped and unable to move. That will be Mishka. For the remaining six hundred years of his life. A living, breathing, motionless host, and my toy." "Satisfied?" Diva says. "Or, if you can think of something better... you can suggest it. But that is what the seed will do. One of them. The one Mishka gets." Izzy: Jonn bites his lip again and studies Diva. He's trying not to smile and his eyes are simultaneously wide with fear and excitement. "I mean ... yeah. Yeah, I'm good with that. That sounds good." He takes a healthy step back and laughs nervously, saying, "Good good good good good," under his breath. he fidgets with his hands for a moment, then the ends of his hair, then the edge of his cloak. Then he looks back up to Diva. "Yeah. Okay, yeah. Rules. Whoever gets the second vial--." He stops and thinks. "Actually, no matter what happens with either vial, you don't hurt my dad. Hansel, I mean. Or my sister. I just assume you know about her too." He thinks, trying to remember if there's anyone else he cares about. "Or Finch, I guess. Or Roddy. Can you promise that?" Izzy: "Hey, and just to clarify, the thing you're gonna do to Mishka? That counts as hurting. That doesn't happen to any of them. Ever." Coyote: "Oh, yes, absolutely. That is hurting. I can promise that," Diva said instantly. "I want you to hand the vials to the correct person at the correct time, and doing so will not harm Hansel Granger, Lucienne Sterling, Finch No-Last-Name, and Rodger Hammerstein the Third." And then, briefly, Diva says, "Also, you won't tell anyone about this. I feel like that should go without saying, but someone I recently trusted with a sensitive deal spilled the beans. Frankly, I'm ashamed I trusted such a dishonorable person." And Diva cuts open his palm with one long nail and sticks out his hand. Black blood, the same wet black color as his eyes, drips from the cut. "Deal?" Diva says. "Anything else? You want a different wording?" Izzy: Jonn stares at his hand. The voice in his head that always tells him not to do things and sounds very much like Hansel is yelling at him. "I know you already said this, but it won't hurt me, either, right? Just ... to get everything perfectly clear. I'm on that list too." Coyote: "The seeds will not hurt you," Diva says. "Once released, they'll do their task, then be gone. It will only hurt Mishka-- and perhaps someone else." Izzy: "Perhaps?" he asks incredulously. "Perhaps?" Coyote: "Oh, let me clarify," Diva says. "If we're successful in this little venture, it absolutely will, yes. Two vials. Two seeds." Izzy: "Oh. It's contingent on me not fuckin' up. Okay. Yeah, fair enough." He thinks for another moment, eyeballing Diva's black blood. This is such a bad idea. But the payoff ... "Fuck it. Yeah. Deal." Jonn shakes Diva's hand. Coyote: Diva's face twists in delight. The grip tightens. The blood burns. When Diva lets go, there's a black mark on Jonn's palm, stinging like blistered skin, but perfectly smooth. "Thank you," Diva says. "Come back again soon." Izzy: "Ow, fuck." He looks at his hand. "What the fuck, man." He looks back up. "Hey, look -- I had -- can I make another deal?" Coyote: "Sure," Diva says. "What would you like?" His eyes are oily when he looks Jonn up and down. "I could use your body when you die." Izzy: He wrinkles his nose. "Uh ... Maybe. Can you bring people back to life?" Coyote: Diva laughs. "Ah, sure. If you give me the body I'll do it for free." Izzy: "The body's, um. Not in good condition. He's been dead a while," he mumbles, "and he was kind of exploded. If that matters." Coyote: "Oh. Well, then. No. That won't work. I don't want anything to do with that." Diva wrinkles his nose. "Tell you what, darling, I'm in a good mood. I'll give you a suggestion for free, not a deal. Goro? You know, Joan Ripley's beloved foster son? He has a wand that can bring people back to life. The black, twisted one he carries with him. You don't even need to be a cleric." Diva pauses, then says, "Sometimes it kills the caster, though. But... well.... you don't need to be a cleric to cast it. Maybe you could get some other poor sap to do it. Bring your friend back." Izzy: Goro. That rings a bell. "'Kay. Good to know." It was worth a try. For a moment he finds it strange that Diva knew the names of everyone else he mentioned but only referred to Flynn as his friend. Maybe it's nothing. He takes the box. "All right. See you in my fuckin' nightmares, I guess." Coyote: "Good luck," Diva says. "Come again soon, valued customer." And the door snaps shut behind Jonn as he leaves. END Category:Text Roleplay